Speaker 1: The Boscombe Valley mystery. We were seated at breakfast one morning,
Speaker 1: my wife and I when the maid brought in a telegram.
Speaker 1: It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran in this way,
Speaker 1: have you a couple of days to spare? Have just
Speaker 1: been wired from the west of England in connection with
Speaker 1: Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will come
Speaker 1: with me air and scenery perfect leave Paddington by the
Speaker 1: eleven fifteen. What do you say, my dear, said my wife,
Speaker 1: looking across at me. Will you go? I really don't
Speaker 1: know what to say. I have a fairly long listed present. Oh,
Speaker 1: Anstruther would do your work for you. You've been looking a
Speaker 1: little pale lately. I think that the change would do
Speaker 1: you good. And you are always so interested in mister
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes's cases. I should be ungrateful if I were
Speaker 1: not seeing what I gained through one of them. I answered,
Speaker 1: But if I am to go, I must pack at once,
Speaker 1: for I have only half an hour. My experience of
Speaker 1: camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the effect
Speaker 1: of making me a prompt and ready traveler. My wants
Speaker 1: were few and simple, so that in less than the time, stated,
Speaker 1: I was in a cab with my valise, rattling away
Speaker 1: to Paddington Station. Sherlock Holmes was pacing up and down
Speaker 1: the platform, his tall, gaunt figure, made even gaunter and
Speaker 1: taller by his long gray traveling cloak and close fitting
Speaker 1: cloth cab. It is really very good of you to come,
Speaker 1: Watson said he. It makes a considerable difference to me
Speaker 1: having someone with me on whom I can thoroughly rely.
Speaker 1: Local aid is always either worthless or else biased. If
Speaker 1: you will keep the two corner seats, I shall get
Speaker 1: the tickets. We had the carriage to ourselves, save for
Speaker 1: an immense litter of papers, which Holmes had brought with him.
Speaker 1: Among these he rummaged and read, with intervals of note
Speaker 1: taking and of meditation, until we were past reading. Then
Speaker 1: he suddenly rolled them all into a gigantic ball and
Speaker 1: toss them up on to the rack. Have you heard
Speaker 1: anything of the case, he asked, Not a word. I
Speaker 1: have not seen a paper for some days. The London
Speaker 1: press has not had very full accounts. I have just
Speaker 1: been looking through all the recent papers in order to
Speaker 1: master the particulars. It seems from what I gather to
Speaker 1: be one of those simple cases which are so extremely
Speaker 1: difficult that sounds a little paradoxical, but it is profoundly true.
Speaker 1: Singularity is almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and
Speaker 1: commonplace a crime is, the more difficult is it to
Speaker 1: bring it home. In this case, however, they have established
Speaker 1: a very serious case against the son of the murdered man.
Speaker 1: Is it a murder, then well it is conjectured to
Speaker 1: be so. I shall take nothing for granted until I
Speaker 1: have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will
Speaker 1: explain the state of things to you as far as
Speaker 1: I have been able to understand it in a very
Speaker 1: few words. Boscombe Valley is a country district not very
Speaker 1: far from ross in Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in
Speaker 1: that part is a mister John Turner, who made his
Speaker 1: money in Australia and returned some years ago to the
Speaker 1: old country. One of the farms which he held, that
Speaker 1: of Hatherley, was led to mister Charles McCarthy, who was
Speaker 1: also an ex Australian. The men had known each other
Speaker 1: in the colonies, so that it was not unnatural that
Speaker 1: when they came to settle down, they should do so
Speaker 1: as near each other as possible. Turner was apparently the
Speaker 1: richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant, but still remained,
Speaker 1: it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as they were
Speaker 1: frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen,
Speaker 1: and Turner had an only daughter of the same age,
Speaker 1: but neither of them had wives living. They appear to
Speaker 1: have avoided the society of the neighboring English families and
Speaker 1: to have led retired lives, though both of the McCarthys
Speaker 1: were fond of sport and were frequently seen at the
Speaker 1: race meetings of the neighborhood. McCarthy kept two servants, a
Speaker 1: man and a girl. Turner had a considerable household, some
Speaker 1: half dozen at the least. That is as much as
Speaker 1: I have been able to gather about the families. Now
Speaker 1: for the facts. On June third, that is, on Monday last,
Speaker 1: McCarthy left his house at Havily about three in the
Speaker 1: afternoon and walked down to the Boscombe Pool, which is
Speaker 1: a small lake formed by the spreading out of the
Speaker 1: stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been
Speaker 1: out with his serving man in the morning at Ross
Speaker 1: and he had told the man that he must hurry,
Speaker 1: as he had an appointment of importance to keep at three.
Speaker 1: From that appointment, he never came back alive. From Hatherley
Speaker 1: Farmhouse to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a mile,
Speaker 1: and two people saw him as he passed over this ground.
Speaker 1: One was an old woman whose name is not mentioned,
Speaker 1: and the other was William Crowder, a gamekeeper in the
Speaker 1: employ of mister Turner. Both these witnesses deposed that mister
Speaker 1: McCarthy was walking alone. The gamekeeper adds that within a
Speaker 1: few minutes of his seeing mister McCarthy pass he had
Speaker 1: seen his son, mister James McCarthy, going the same way
Speaker 1: with a gun under his arm. To the best of
Speaker 1: his belief, the father was actually in sight at the
Speaker 1: time and the son was following him. He thought no
Speaker 1: more of the matter until he heard in the evening
Speaker 1: of the tragedy that had occurred. The two McCarthys were
Speaker 1: seen after the time when William Crowder, the gamekeeper, lost
Speaker 1: sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded round,
Speaker 1: with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round
Speaker 1: the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is
Speaker 1: the daughter of the lodge keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate,
Speaker 1: was in one of the woods picking flowers. She states
Speaker 1: that while she was there she saw the border of
Speaker 1: the wood and close by the lake, mister McCarthy and
Speaker 1: his son, and that they appeared to be having a
Speaker 1: violent quarrel. She heard mister McCarthy the elder, using very
Speaker 1: strong language to his son, and she saw the latter
Speaker 1: raise up his hand as if to strike his father.
Speaker 1: She was so frightened by their violence that she ran
Speaker 1: away and told her mother when she reached home that
Speaker 1: she had left the two McCarthys quarreling near Boscombe Pool,
Speaker 1: and that she was afraid that they were going to fight.
Speaker 1: She had hardly said the words when young mister McCarthy
Speaker 1: came running up to the lodge to say that he
Speaker 1: had found his father dead in the wood and to
Speaker 1: ask for the help of the lodge keeper. He was
Speaker 1: much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and
Speaker 1: his right hand and sleeve were observed to be stained
Speaker 1: with fresh blood. On following him, they found the dead
Speaker 1: body of his father stretched out upon the grass beside
Speaker 1: the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated
Speaker 1: blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were
Speaker 1: such as might very well have been inflicted by the
Speaker 1: butt end of his son's gun, which was found lying
Speaker 1: on the grass within a few paces of the body.
Speaker 1: Under these circumstances, the young man was instantly arrested, and
Speaker 1: a verdict of wilful murder having been returned at the
Speaker 1: inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the
Speaker 1: magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the
Speaker 1: next assizes. Those are the main facts of the case
Speaker 1: as they came out before the coroner and at the
Speaker 1: police court. I could hardly imagine a more damning case.
Speaker 1: I remarked, If ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal,
Speaker 1: it does so here. Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing,
Speaker 1: answered Holmes thoughtfully. It may seem to point very straight
Speaker 1: to one thing, but if you shift your own point
Speaker 1: of view a little, you may find it pointing in
Speaker 1: an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different. It must
Speaker 1: be confessed, however, that the case looks exceedingly grave against
Speaker 1: the young man, and it is very possible that he
Speaker 1: is indeed the culprit. There are several people in the neighborhood, however,
Speaker 1: and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighboring landowner,
Speaker 1: who believe in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade,
Speaker 1: whom you may remember in connection with the study in Scarlet,
Speaker 1: to work out the case in his interest. Lestrade, being
Speaker 1: rather puzzled, has referred the case to me, and hence
Speaker 1: it is two middle aged gentlemen are flying westward at
Speaker 1: fifty miles an hour instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts
Speaker 1: at home. I am afraid, said I, that the facts
Speaker 1: are so obvious that you will find little credit to
Speaker 1: be gained out of this case. There is nothing more
Speaker 1: deceptive than an obvious fact, he answered, laughing. Besides, we
Speaker 1: may chance to hit upon some other obvious facts which
Speaker 1: may have been by no means obvious to mister Lestrade.
Speaker 1: You know me too well to think that I am
Speaker 1: boasting when I say that I shall either confirm or
Speaker 1: destroy his theory by means which he is quite incapable
Speaker 1: of employing, or even of understanding. To take the first
Speaker 1: example in hand, I very clearly perceive that in your
Speaker 1: bedroom the window is upon the right hand side. And
Speaker 1: yet I question whether mister Lestrade would have noted even
Speaker 1: so self evident a thing as that. How on earth,
Speaker 1: my dear fellow, I know you well, I know the
Speaker 1: military neatness which characterizes you. You shave every morning, and
Speaker 1: in this season you shave by the sunlight. But since
Speaker 1: your shaving is less and less complete as we get
Speaker 1: farther back on the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly,
Speaker 1: as we get round the angle of the jaw, it
Speaker 1: is surely very clear that that side is less well
Speaker 1: illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man
Speaker 1: of your habits looking at himself in an equal light
Speaker 1: and being satisfied with such a result. I only quote
Speaker 1: this as a trivial example of observation and inference. Therein
Speaker 1: lies my metier, and it is just possible that it
Speaker 1: may be of some service in the investigation which lies
Speaker 1: before us. There are one or two minor points which
Speaker 1: were brought out in the inquest, and which are worth considering.
Speaker 1: What are they? It appears that his arrest did not
Speaker 1: take place at once, but after the return to Havily Farm,
Speaker 1: on the Inspector of Constabulary informing him that he was
Speaker 1: a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to
Speaker 1: hear it, and it was no more than his deserts.
Speaker 1: This observation of his had the natural effect of removing
Speaker 1: any traces of doubt which might have remained in the
Speaker 1: minds of the coroner's jury. It was a confession I ejaculated, no,
Speaker 1: for it was followed by a protestation of innocence. Coming
Speaker 1: on the top of such a damning series of events,
Speaker 1: it was at least a most suspicious remark. On the contrary,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, it is the brightest rift which I can
Speaker 1: at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be,
Speaker 1: he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not
Speaker 1: to see that the circumstances were very black against him.
Speaker 1: Had he appeared surprised at his own arrest or feigned
Speaker 1: indignation at it, I should have looked upon it as
Speaker 1: highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger would not be
Speaker 1: natural under the circumstances, and yet might appear to be
Speaker 1: the best policy to a scheming man. His frank acceptance
Speaker 1: of the situation marks him as either an innocent man,
Speaker 1: or else as a man of considerable self restraint and firmness.
Speaker 1: As to his remark, about his deserts. It was also
Speaker 1: not unnatural if you consider that he stood by the
Speaker 1: dead body of his father, and that there is no
Speaker 1: doubt that he had that very day so far forgotten
Speaker 1: his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and
Speaker 1: even according to the little girl, whose evidence is so important,
Speaker 1: to raise his hand as if to strike him. The
Speaker 1: self reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark
Speaker 1: appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind,
Speaker 1: rather than of a guilty one. I shook my head.
Speaker 1: Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence, I remarked,
Speaker 1: So they have, and many men have been wrongfully hanged.
Speaker 1: What is the young man's own account of the matter.
Speaker 1: It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters,
Speaker 1: though there are one or two points in it which
Speaker 1: are suggestive. You will find it here and may read
Speaker 1: it for yourself. He picked out from his bundle a
Speaker 1: copy of the local Herefordshire paper, and, having turned down
Speaker 1: the sheet, he pointed out the paragraph in which the
Speaker 1: unfortunate young man had given his own statement of what
Speaker 1: had occurred. I settled myself down in the corner of
Speaker 1: the carriage and read it very carefully it ran in
Speaker 1: this way. Mister James mc carthy, the only son of
Speaker 1: the deceased, was then called and gave evidence as follows.
Speaker 1: I had been away from home for three days at Bristol,
Speaker 1: and had only just returned upon the morning of last
Speaker 1: Monday the third. My father was absent from home at
Speaker 1: the time of my arrival, and I was informed by
Speaker 1: the maid that he had driven over to rass with
Speaker 1: John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after my return, I heard
Speaker 1: the wheels of his trap in the yard, and looking
Speaker 1: out of my window, I saw him get out and
Speaker 1: walk rapidly out of the yard, though I was not
Speaker 1: aware in which direction he was going. I then took
Speaker 1: my gun and strolled out in the direction of the
Speaker 1: Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit warren,
Speaker 1: which is upon the other side. On my way I
Speaker 1: saw William Crowder, the gamekeeper, as he has stated in
Speaker 1: his evidence, but he is mistaken in thinking that I
Speaker 1: was following my father. I had no idea that he
Speaker 1: was in front of me. When about a hundred yards
Speaker 1: from the pool, I heard a cry of cooi, which
Speaker 1: was a usual signal between my father and myself. I
Speaker 1: then hurried forward and found him standing by the pool.
Speaker 1: He appeared to be much surprised at seeing me, and
Speaker 1: asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A
Speaker 1: conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows,
Speaker 1: For my father was a man of a very violent temper.
Speaker 1: Seeing that his passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him
Speaker 1: and returned towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more
Speaker 1: than one hundred and fifty yards, however, when I heard
Speaker 1: a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me to run
Speaker 1: back again. I found my father expiring on the ground,
Speaker 1: with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and
Speaker 1: held him in my arms, but he almost instantly expired.
Speaker 1: I knelt beside him for some minutes, and then made
Speaker 1: my way to mister Turner's lodge, keeper his house, being
Speaker 1: the nearest to asked for assistance. I saw no one
Speaker 1: near my father when I returned, and I have no
Speaker 1: idea how he came by his injuries. He was not
Speaker 1: a popular man, being somewhat cold and forbidding in his manners,
Speaker 1: but he had, as far as I know, no active enemies.
Speaker 1: I know nothing further of the matter, the Coroner. Did
Speaker 1: your father make any statement to you before he died? Witness?
Speaker 1: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch
Speaker 1: some allusion to a rat. The Coroner. What did you
Speaker 1: understand by that? Witness? It conveyed no meaning to me.
Speaker 1: I thought that he was delirious, the Coroner. What was
Speaker 1: the point upon which you and your father had this
Speaker 1: final quarrel? Witness, I should prefer not to answer, the Coroner.
Speaker 1: I am afraid that I must press it, Witness. It
Speaker 1: is really impossible for me to tell you. I can
Speaker 1: assure you that it has nothing to do with the
Speaker 1: sad tragedy which Followedgner. That is for the court to decide.
Speaker 1: I need not point out to you that your refusal
Speaker 1: to answer will prejudice your case considerably in any future
Speaker 1: proceedings which may arise. Witness. I must still refuse the Coroner.
Speaker 1: I understand that the cry of coui was a common
Speaker 1: signal between you and your father, Witness it was the coroner.
Speaker 1: How was it then that he uttered it before he
Speaker 1: saw you, and before he even knew that you had
Speaker 1: returned from Bristol? Witness with considerable confusion, I do not
Speaker 1: know a juryman, did you see anything which aroused your
Speaker 1: suspicions when you returned on hearing the cry and found
Speaker 1: your father fatally injured? Witness, nothing definite? The coroner, what
Speaker 1: do you mean, Witness, I was so disturbed and excited
Speaker 1: as I rushed out into the open that I could
Speaker 1: think of nothing except my father. I have a vague
Speaker 1: impression that as I ran forward, something lay upon the
Speaker 1: ground to the left of me. It seemed to me
Speaker 1: to be something gray in color, a coat of some sort,
Speaker 1: or a plaid. Perhaps. When I rose from my father,
Speaker 1: I looked round for it, but it was gone. Do
Speaker 1: you mean that it disappeared before you went for help? Yes,
Speaker 1: it was gone. You cannot say what it was. No,
Speaker 1: I had a feeling something was there. How far from
Speaker 1: the body a dozen yards or so, and how far
Speaker 1: from the edge of the wood about the same. Then,
Speaker 1: if it was removed, it was while you were within
Speaker 1: a dozen yards of it, Yes, but with my back
Speaker 1: towards it. This concluded the examination of the witness. I see,
Speaker 1: said I as I glanced down the column that the coroner,
Speaker 1: in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy.
Speaker 1: He calls attention and with reason to the discrepancy about
Speaker 1: his father having signaled to him before seeing him, also
Speaker 1: to his refusal to give details of his conversation with
Speaker 1: his father, and his singular account of his father's dying words.
Speaker 1: They are all, as he remarks, very much against the son.
Speaker 1: Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon
Speaker 1: the cushioned seat. Both you and the coroner have been
Speaker 1: at some pains, said he to single out the very
Speaker 1: strongest points in the young man's favor. Don't you see
Speaker 1: that you alternately give him credit for having too much
Speaker 1: imagination and too little. Too little if he could not
Speaker 1: invent a cause of quarrel which would give him the
Speaker 1: sympathy of the jury, too much, if he evolved from
Speaker 1: his own inner consciousness, anything so outrey as a dying
Speaker 1: reference to a rat and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, Sir,
Speaker 1: I shall approach this case from the point of view
Speaker 1: that this young man says is true, and we shall
Speaker 1: see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And now here
Speaker 1: is my pocket, petrarch, And not another word shall I
Speaker 1: say of this case until we are on the scene
Speaker 1: of action. We lunch at Swindon and I see that
Speaker 1: we shall be there in twenty minutes. It was nearly
Speaker 1: four o'clock when we, at last, after passing through the
Speaker 1: beautiful strewed valley and over the broad gleaming seven, found
Speaker 1: ourselves at the pretty little country town of Ross. A
Speaker 1: lean ferret like man, furtive and sly looking, was waiting
Speaker 1: for us upon the platform. In spite of the light
Speaker 1: brown dust coat and leather leggings which he wore in
Speaker 1: deference to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in
Speaker 1: recognizing Lestrade of Scotland. Yard. With him, we drove to
Speaker 1: the Hereford Arms, where a room had already been engaged
Speaker 1: for us. I have ordered a carriage, said Lestrade, as
Speaker 1: we say over a cup of tea. I knew your
Speaker 1: energetic nature and that you would not be happy until
Speaker 1: you had been on the scene of the crime. It
Speaker 1: was very nice and complimentary of you. Holmes answered, it
Speaker 1: is entirely a question of barometric pressure. Lestrade looked startled.
Speaker 1: I do not quite follow, he said, how is the
Speaker 1: glass twenty nine? I see no wind and not a
Speaker 1: cloud in the sky. I have a case full of
Speaker 1: cigarettes here which needs smoking, and the sofa is very
Speaker 1: much superior to the usual country hotel abomination. I do
Speaker 1: not think that it is probable that I shall use
Speaker 1: the carriage to night, Lestrade laughed indulgently. You have no
Speaker 1: doubt already formed your conclusions from the newspapers, he said.
Speaker 1: The case is as plain as a pike staff, and
Speaker 1: the more one goes into it, the plainer it becomes. Still.
Speaker 1: Of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a
Speaker 1: very positive one too. She had heard of you and
Speaker 1: would have your opinion, though I repeatedly told her that
Speaker 1: there was nothing which you could do which I had
Speaker 1: not already done. Why, bless my soul, here is her
Speaker 1: carriage at the door. He had hardly spoken before there
Speaker 1: rushed into the room one of the most lovely young
Speaker 1: women that I have ever seen in my life, her
Speaker 1: violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon
Speaker 1: her cheeks. All thought of her natural reserve lost in
Speaker 1: her overpowering excitement and concern. Oh, mister Sherlock Holmes, she cried,
Speaker 1: glancing from one to the other of us, and finally,
Speaker 1: with a woman's quick intuition fastening upon my companion, I
Speaker 1: am so glad that you have come I have driven
Speaker 1: down to tell you so I know that James didn't
Speaker 1: do it. I know it, and I want you to
Speaker 1: start upon your work knowing it too. Never let yourself
Speaker 1: doubt upon that point. We have known each other since
Speaker 1: we were little children, and I know his faults as
Speaker 1: no one else does. But he is too tender hearted
Speaker 1: to her to fly such a charge is absurd to
Speaker 1: any one who really knows him. I hope we may
Speaker 1: clear him, Miss Turner, said, Sherlock Holmes. You may rely
Speaker 1: upon my doing all that I can. But you have
Speaker 1: read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion. Do you
Speaker 1: not see some loophole, some floor? Do you not yourself
Speaker 1: think that he is innocent? I think that is very probable.
Speaker 1: There now, she cried, throwing back her head and looking
Speaker 1: defiantly at Lestrade. You hear he gives me hope. Lestrade
Speaker 1: shrugged his shoulders. I am afraid that my colleague has
Speaker 1: been a little quick in forming his conclusions, he said,
Speaker 1: But he is right. Oh, I know that he is right.
Speaker 1: James never did it. And about his quarrel with his father,
Speaker 1: I am sure that the reason why he would not
Speaker 1: speak about it to the coroner was because I was
Speaker 1: concerned in it in what way? Asked Holmes. It is
Speaker 1: no time for me to hide anything. James and his
Speaker 1: father had many disagreements about me. Mister mc carthy was
Speaker 1: very anxious that there should be a marriage between us.
Speaker 1: James and I have always loved each other as brother
Speaker 1: and sister. But of course he is young and has
Speaker 1: seen very little of life yet, and and well, he
Speaker 1: naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet.
Speaker 1: So there were quarrels, and this, I am sure was
Speaker 1: one of them. And your father, asked Holmes, was he
Speaker 1: in favor of such a union? No, he was averse
Speaker 1: to it. Also, No one but mister mc carthy was
Speaker 1: in favor of it. A quick blush passed over her
Speaker 1: fresh young face as Holmes shot one of his keen
Speaker 1: questioning glances at her. Thank you for this information, said he.
Speaker 1: May I see your father if I call to morrow.
Speaker 1: I'm afraid the doctor won't allow it. The doctor, yes,
Speaker 1: have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong
Speaker 1: for years back, but this has broken him down completely.
Speaker 1: He has taken to his bed, and doctor Willow says
Speaker 1: that he is a rare and that his nervous system
Speaker 1: is shattered. Mister mc carthy was the only man alive
Speaker 1: who had known Dad in the old days in Victoria. Ha,
Speaker 1: in Victoria. That is important, yes, but the mines quite so,
Speaker 1: at the gold mines, where as I understand mister Turner
Speaker 1: made his money. Yes, certainly, thank you, Miss Turner. You
Speaker 1: have been of material assistance to me. You will tell
Speaker 1: me if you have any news tomorrow. No doubt you
Speaker 1: will go to the prison to see James. Oh. If
Speaker 1: you do, mister Holmes, do tell him that I know
Speaker 1: him to be innocent. I will, miss Turner. I must
Speaker 1: go home now, for Dad is very ill and he
Speaker 1: misses me. So if I leave him, good bye, and
Speaker 1: God help you in your undertaking. She hurried from the
Speaker 1: room as impulsively as she had entered, and we heard
Speaker 1: the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street.
Speaker 1: I am ashamed of you, Holmes, said Lestrade, with dignity,
Speaker 1: after a few minutes silence. Why should you raise up
Speaker 1: hopes which you are bound to disappoint. I'm not o
Speaker 1: tender of heart, but I call it cruel. I think
Speaker 1: that I see my way to clearing. James McCarthy said, Holmes,
Speaker 1: have you an order to see him in prison. Yes,
Speaker 1: but only for you and me. Then I shall reconsider
Speaker 1: my resolution about going out. We have still time to
Speaker 1: take a train to Hereford and see him to night,
Speaker 1: and Paul, then let us do so, Watson, I fear
Speaker 1: that you will find it very slow, but I shall
Speaker 1: only be away a couple of hours. I walked down
Speaker 1: to the station with them, and then wandered through the
Speaker 1: streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel,
Speaker 1: where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest
Speaker 1: myself in a yellow backed novel. The puny plot of
Speaker 1: the story was so thin, however, when compared to the
Speaker 1: deep mystery through which we were groping, and I found
Speaker 1: my attention wander so constantly from the fiction to the
Speaker 1: fact that I at last flung it across the room
Speaker 1: and gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the
Speaker 1: events of the day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's
Speaker 1: story was absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely
Speaker 1: unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between the time
Speaker 1: when he parted from his father and the moment when
Speaker 1: drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade.
Speaker 1: It was something terrible and deadly. What could it be?
Speaker 1: Might not the nature of the injuries reveal something to
Speaker 1: my medical instinct? I rang the bell and called for
Speaker 1: the weekly county paper, which contained a verbatim account of
Speaker 1: the inquest. In the surgeon's deposition, it was stated that
Speaker 1: the posterior third of the left parietal bone and the
Speaker 1: left half of the occipital bone had been shattered by
Speaker 1: a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the
Speaker 1: spot upon my own head. Clearly, such a blow must
Speaker 1: have been struck from behind. That was to some extent
Speaker 1: in favor of the acue used, as when seen quarreling,
Speaker 1: he was face to face with his father. Still it
Speaker 1: did not go for very much, for the older man
Speaker 1: might have turned his back before the blow fell. Still
Speaker 1: it might be worthwhile to call Holmes's attention to it.
Speaker 1: Then there was the peculiar dying reference to a rat.
Speaker 1: What could that mean? It could not be delirium. A
Speaker 1: man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become delirious. No,
Speaker 1: it was more likely to be an attempt to explain
Speaker 1: how he met his fate. But what could it indicate?
Speaker 1: I cudgeled my brains to find some possible explanation, and
Speaker 1: then the incident of the gray cloth seen by young McCarthy.
Speaker 1: If that were true, the murderer must have dropped some
Speaker 1: part of his dress, presumably his overcoat, in his flight,
Speaker 1: and must have had the hardihood to return and carry
Speaker 1: it away at the instant when the sun was kneeling
Speaker 1: with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What
Speaker 1: a tea hue of mysteries and improbabilities. The whole thing was.
Speaker 1: I did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I
Speaker 1: had so much faith in Sherlock Holmes's insight that I
Speaker 1: could not lose hope as long as every fresh fact
Speaker 1: seemed to strengthen his conviction of young mc carthy's innocence.
Speaker 1: It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone,
Speaker 1: for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. The
Speaker 1: glass still keeps very high, he remarked, as he sat down.
Speaker 1: It is of importance that it should not rain before
Speaker 1: we are able to go over the ground. On the
Speaker 1: other hand, a man should be at his very best
Speaker 1: and keenest for such nice work as that, And I
Speaker 1: did not wish to do it when fagged by a
Speaker 1: long journey. I have seen young mac carthy, and what
Speaker 1: did you learn from him? Nothing? Could he throw no light,
Speaker 1: none at all. I was inclined to think at one
Speaker 1: time that he knew who had done it and was
Speaker 1: screening him or her. But I am convinced now that
Speaker 1: he is as puzzled as every one else. He is
Speaker 1: not a very quick witted youth, though comely to look at,
Speaker 1: and I should think sound at heart. I cannot admire
Speaker 1: his taste, I remarked. If it is indeed a fact
Speaker 1: that he was averse to a marriage with so charming
Speaker 1: a young lady as this Miss turner Ah, thereby hangs
Speaker 1: a rather painful tale. The fellow is madly, insanely in
Speaker 1: love with her, but some two years ago, when he
Speaker 1: was only a lad, and before he really knew her,
Speaker 1: for she had been away five years at a boarding school.
Speaker 1: What does the idiot do but get into the clutches
Speaker 1: of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a
Speaker 1: registry office. No one knows a word of the matter,
Speaker 1: but you can imagine how maddening it must be to
Speaker 1: him to be upbraided for not doing what he would
Speaker 1: give his very eyes to do, but what he knows
Speaker 1: to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this
Speaker 1: sort which made him throw his hands into the air
Speaker 1: when his father, at their last interview, was goading him
Speaker 1: on to propose to Miss Turner. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: he had no means of supporting himself, and his father,
Speaker 1: who was by all accounts a very hard man, would
Speaker 1: have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth.
Speaker 1: It was with his bar maid wife that he had
Speaker 1: spent the last three days in Bristol, and his father
Speaker 1: did not know where he was. Mark that point, it
Speaker 1: is of importance good has come out of evil, however,
Speaker 1: for the bar maid, finding from the papers that he
Speaker 1: is in serious trouble and likely to be hanged, has
Speaker 1: thrown him over utterly, and has written to him to
Speaker 1: say that she has a husband already in the Bermuda dockyard,
Speaker 1: so that there is really no tie between them. I
Speaker 1: think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy
Speaker 1: for all that he has suffered. But if he is innocent,
Speaker 1: who has done it? Ah? Who? I would call your
Speaker 1: attention very particularly to two points. One is that the
Speaker 1: murdered man had an appointment with some one at the pool,
Speaker 1: and that the some one could not have been his son,
Speaker 1: for his son was away and he did not know
Speaker 1: when he would return. The second is that the murdered
Speaker 1: man was heard to cry cooie before he knew that
Speaker 1: his son had returned. Those are the crucial points upon
Speaker 1: which the case depends. And now let us talk about
Speaker 1: George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave minor
Speaker 1: points until to morrow. There was no rain, as Holmes
Speaker 1: had foretold, and the morning broke bright and cloudless. At
Speaker 1: nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with the carriage, and
Speaker 1: we set off for Havily Farm and the Boscombe Pool.
Speaker 1: There is serious news this morning, Lestrade observed. It is
Speaker 1: said that mister Turner of the Hall is so ill
Speaker 1: that his life is despaired. Of an elderly man, I presume,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, about sixty, but his constitution has been shattered
Speaker 1: by his life abroad, and he has been in failing
Speaker 1: health for some time. This business has had a very
Speaker 1: bad effect upon him. He was an old friend mac Carthy's,
Speaker 1: and I may add a great benefactor to him, for
Speaker 1: I have learned that he gave him haathly farm rent free. Indeed,
Speaker 1: that is interesting, said Holmes. Oh, yes, in a hundred
Speaker 1: other ways he has helped him. Everybody about here speaks
Speaker 1: of his kindness to him. Really, does it not strike
Speaker 1: you as a little singular that this MacCarthy, who appears
Speaker 1: to have had little of his own, and to have
Speaker 1: been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of
Speaker 1: marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is presumably heiress
Speaker 1: to the estate, And that in such a very cockshaw manner,
Speaker 1: as if it was merely a case of a proposal
Speaker 1: and all else would follow. It is the more strange
Speaker 1: since we know that Turner himself was averse to the idea.
Speaker 1: The daughter told us, as much, do you not deduce
Speaker 1: something from that? We have got to the deductions and
Speaker 1: the inferences, said Lestrade, winking at me. I find it
Speaker 1: hard enough to tackle facts, Holmes, without flying away after
Speaker 1: theories and fancies. You are right, said Holmes, demurely. You
Speaker 1: do find it very hard to tackle the facts. Anyhow,
Speaker 1: I have grasped one fact which you seem to find
Speaker 1: it difficult to get hold of, replied Lestrade with some warmth,
Speaker 1: and that is that MacCarthy senior met his death from
Speaker 1: Macarthy Junior, and that all theories to the contrary are
Speaker 1: the merest moonshine. Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, laughing. But I'm very much mistaken if this
Speaker 1: is not Hatherley Farm upon the left, Yes, that is it.
Speaker 1: It was a widespread, comfortable looking building, two storied, slate roofed,
Speaker 1: with great yellow blotches of lichen upon the gray walls.
Speaker 1: The drawer born blinds and the smokeless chimneys, however, gave
Speaker 1: it a stricken look, as though the weight of this
Speaker 1: horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door,
Speaker 1: when the maid, at Holmes's request, showed us the boots
Speaker 1: which her master wore at the time of his death,
Speaker 1: and also a pair of the suns, though not the
Speaker 1: pair which he had then had. Having measured these very
Speaker 1: carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes's desire to
Speaker 1: be led to the courtyard, from which we all followed
Speaker 1: the winding track which led to Boscombe pool Sherlock Holmes
Speaker 1: was transformed when he was hot upon such a cent
Speaker 1: as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker
Speaker 1: and logician of Baker Street would have failed to recognize him.
Speaker 1: His face flushed and darkened, His brows were drawn into
Speaker 1: two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out from
Speaker 1: beneath them with a steely glitter. His face was bent downwards,
Speaker 1: his shoulders cut, his lips compressed, and the veins stood
Speaker 1: out like whipcord in his long, sinewy neck. His nostrils
Speaker 1: seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust for the chase,
Speaker 1: and his mind was so absolutely concentrated upon the matter
Speaker 1: before him that a question or remark fell unheeded upon
Speaker 1: his ears, or at the most only provoked a quick,
Speaker 1: impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently, he made his
Speaker 1: way along the track, which ran through the meadows and
Speaker 1: so by way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool.
Speaker 1: It was damp, marshy ground, as is all that district,
Speaker 1: and there were marks of many feet both upon the
Speaker 1: path and amid the short grass which bounded it on
Speaker 1: either side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead,
Speaker 1: and once he made quite a little detour into the
Speaker 1: meadow Lestrade and I walked behind him, the detective indifferent
Speaker 1: and contemptuous, while I watched my friend with the interest
Speaker 1: which sprang from the conviction that every one of his
Speaker 1: actions was directed towards a definite end. The Boscombe Pool,
Speaker 1: which is a little reed girt sheet of water some
Speaker 1: fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the
Speaker 1: Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy mister Turner,
Speaker 1: above the woods which lined it. Upon the farther side
Speaker 1: we could see the red jutting pinnacles which marked the
Speaker 1: site of the rich landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side
Speaker 1: of the pool, the woods grew very thick, and there
Speaker 1: was a narrow belt of sodden grass twenty paces across
Speaker 1: between the edge of the trees and the reeds which
Speaker 1: lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at
Speaker 1: which the body had been found, And indeed, so moist
Speaker 1: was the ground that I could plainly see the traces
Speaker 1: which had been left by the fall of the stricken man.
Speaker 1: To Holmes, as I could see by his eager face
Speaker 1: and peering eyes, very many other things were to be
Speaker 1: read upon the trampled grass. He ran round like a
Speaker 1: dog who is picking up a scent, and then turned
Speaker 1: upon my companion, what did you go into the poll?
Speaker 1: For he asked, I fished about with a rake. I
Speaker 1: thought there might be some weapon or other trace. But
Speaker 1: how on earth, Oh, tut, tut, I have no time.
Speaker 1: That left foot of yours, with its inward twist, is
Speaker 1: all over the place. A mole could trace it, and
Speaker 1: there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it
Speaker 1: would all have been had I been here before they
Speaker 1: came like a herd of buffalo and wallowed all over it.
Speaker 1: Here is where the party with the lodge keeper came,
Speaker 1: and they have covered all tracks for six or eight
Speaker 1: feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks
Speaker 1: of the same feet. He drew out a lens and
Speaker 1: lay down upon his waterproof to have a better view,
Speaker 1: talking all the time rather to himself than to us.
Speaker 1: These are young MacCarthy's feet. Twice he was walking, and
Speaker 1: once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are deeply
Speaker 1: marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his story.
Speaker 1: He ran when he saw his father on the ground.
Speaker 1: Then here are the father's feet as he paced up
Speaker 1: and down. What is this? Then it is the butt
Speaker 1: end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this, ha, ha,
Speaker 1: what have we here? Tiptoes, tiptoes square two, quite unusual.
Speaker 1: Boots they come, they go, they come again. Of course,
Speaker 1: that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?
Speaker 1: He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track,
Speaker 1: until we were well within the edge of the wood
Speaker 1: and under the shadow of a great beach, the largest
Speaker 1: tree in the neighborhood. Holmes traced his way to the
Speaker 1: farther side of this and lay down once more, upon
Speaker 1: his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a
Speaker 1: long time he remained there, turning over the leaves and
Speaker 1: dry sticks, gathering up what seemed to me to be
Speaker 1: dust into an envelope, and examining with his lens not
Speaker 1: only the ground, but even the bark of the tree.
Speaker 1: As far as he could reach. A jagged stone was
Speaker 1: lying among the moss, and this also he carefully examined
Speaker 1: and retained. Then he followed a pathway through the wood
Speaker 1: until he came to the high road, where all traces
Speaker 1: were lost. It has been a case of considerable interest,
Speaker 1: he remarked, returning to his natural manner. I fancy that
Speaker 1: this gray house on the right must be the lodge.
Speaker 1: I think that I will go in and have a
Speaker 1: word with Moran and perhaps write a little note. Having
Speaker 1: done that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You
Speaker 1: may walk to the cab, and I shall be with you. Presently,
Speaker 1: it was about ten minutes before we regained our cab
Speaker 1: and drove back into ross Home, still carrying with him
Speaker 1: the stone which he had picked up in the wood.
Speaker 1: This may interest you, Lestrade, he remarked, holding it out.
Speaker 1: The murder was done with it. I see no marks,
Speaker 1: there are none. How do you know? Then? The grass
Speaker 1: was growing under it. It had only lain there a
Speaker 1: few days. There was no sign of a place whence
Speaker 1: it had been taken. It corresponds with the injuries. There
Speaker 1: is no sign of any other weapon, and the murderer
Speaker 1: is a tall man, left handed, limps with the right leg,
Speaker 1: wears thick soled shooting boots and a gray cloak. Smokes
Speaker 1: Indian cigars, uses a cigar holder, and carries a blunt
Speaker 1: pen knife in his pocket. There are several other indications,
Speaker 1: but these may be enough to aid us in our search.
Speaker 1: Lestrade laughed. I'm afraid that I am still a skeptic,
Speaker 1: he said. Theories are all very well, but we have
Speaker 1: to deal with a hard headed British jewelry. Nu Verron
Speaker 1: answered Holmes, calmly, you work your own method, and I
Speaker 1: shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, and
Speaker 1: shall probably return to London by the evening train, and
Speaker 1: leave your case unfinished. No finished, But the mystery it
Speaker 1: is solved. Who was the criminal? Then the gentleman? I described?
Speaker 1: But who is he? Surely it would not be difficult
Speaker 1: to find out. This is not such a populous neighborhood.
Speaker 1: Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I'm a practical man, he said,
Speaker 1: and I really cannot undertake to go about the country
Speaker 1: looking for a left handed gentleman with a game leg.
Speaker 1: I should become the laughing stock of Scotland. Yard all right,
Speaker 1: said Holmes quietly. I have given you the chance. Here
Speaker 1: are your lodgings. Good bye. I shall drop you a
Speaker 1: line before I leave. Having left Lestrade at his rooms,
Speaker 1: we drove to our hotel, where we found lunch upon
Speaker 1: the table. Holmes was silent and buried in thought, with
Speaker 1: a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds
Speaker 1: himself in a perplexing position. Look here, Watson, he said.
Speaker 1: When the cloth was cleared, just sit down in this
Speaker 1: chair and let me preach to you for a little.
Speaker 1: I don't quite know what to do, and I should
Speaker 1: value your advice. Light a cigar and let me expand
Speaker 1: pray do so well. Now, in considering this case, there
Speaker 1: are two points about young mac carthy's narrative which struck
Speaker 1: us both instantly, although they impressed me in his favor
Speaker 1: and you against him. One was the fact that his
Speaker 1: father should, according to his account, cry cooy before seeing him.
Speaker 1: The other was his singular dying reference to a rat.
Speaker 1: He mumbled several words, you understand, but that was all
Speaker 1: that caught the son's ear. Now from this double point,
Speaker 1: our research must commence, and we will begin it by
Speaker 1: presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true. What
Speaker 1: of this coui then, well, obviously it could not have
Speaker 1: been meant for the sun. The sun, as far as
Speaker 1: he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that
Speaker 1: he was within earshot. The kuii was meant to attract
Speaker 1: the attention of whoever it was he had the appointment with.
Speaker 1: But coui is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which
Speaker 1: is used between Australians. There is a strong presumption that
Speaker 1: the person whom mac Carthy expected him to meet at
Speaker 1: Boscombe Pool. Was some one who had been in Australia.
Speaker 1: What of the rat, then, Sherlock Holmes took a folded
Speaker 1: paper from his pocket and flattened it out on the table.
Speaker 1: This is a map of the colony of Victoria, he said,
Speaker 1: I wired to Bristol for it last night. He put
Speaker 1: his hand over part of the map. What do you read,
Speaker 1: he asked, a rat. I read, and now he raised
Speaker 1: his hand. Quite so, that was the word the man uttered,
Speaker 1: and of which his son only caught the last two syllables.
Speaker 1: He was trying to utter the name of his murderer,
Speaker 1: so and so of Balarat. It is wonderful, I exclaimed,
Speaker 1: it is obvious, and now you see I had narrowed
Speaker 1: the field down considerably. The possession of a gray garment
Speaker 1: was a third point, which, granting the son's statement to
Speaker 1: be correct, was a certainty. We have come now out
Speaker 1: of mere vagueness to the definite conception of an Australian
Speaker 1: from Balarat with a gray cloak, certainly, and one who
Speaker 1: was at home in the district. For the pool can
Speaker 1: only be approached by the farm or by the estate,
Speaker 1: where strangers could hardly wonder. Quite so, then comes our
Speaker 1: expedition of to day. By an examination of the ground,
Speaker 1: I gained the trifling details which I gave to that
Speaker 1: imbecile lestrade as to the personality of the criminal. But
Speaker 1: how did you gain them? You know my method? It
Speaker 1: is founded upon the observation of trifles. His height, I
Speaker 1: know that you might roughly judge from the length of
Speaker 1: his stride. His boots, too might be told from their traces. Yes,
Speaker 1: they were peculiar boots. But his lameness, the impression of
Speaker 1: his right foot was always less distinct than his left.
Speaker 1: He put less weight upon it. Why because he limped
Speaker 1: he was lame. But his left handedness. You were yourself
Speaker 1: struck by the nature of the injury. As recorded by
Speaker 1: the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from
Speaker 1: immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now,
Speaker 1: how can that be unless it were by a left
Speaker 1: handed man. He had stood behind that tree during the
Speaker 1: interview between the father and son. He had even smoked. There.
Speaker 1: I found the ash of a cigar, which my special
Speaker 1: knowledge of tobacco ashes enabled me to pronounce as an
Speaker 1: Indian cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention
Speaker 1: to this and written a little monograph on the ashes
Speaker 1: of one hundred and forty different varieties of pipe cigar
Speaker 1: and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash, I then looked
Speaker 1: round and discovered the stump among the moss where he
Speaker 1: had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the
Speaker 1: variety which are rolled in Rotterdam, and the cigar holder
Speaker 1: I could see that the end had not been in
Speaker 1: his mouth, therefore he used a holder. The tip had
Speaker 1: been cut off, not bitten off, but the cut was
Speaker 1: not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt penknife. Holmes,
Speaker 1: I said, you have drawn a net round this man,
Speaker 1: from which he cannot escape, and you have saved an
Speaker 1: innocent human life, as truly as if you had cut
Speaker 1: the cord which was hanging him. I see the direction
Speaker 1: in which all this point the culprit is. Mister John Turner,
Speaker 1: cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of our sitting
Speaker 1: room and ushering in a visitor. The man who entered
Speaker 1: was a strange and impressive figure. His slow limping step
Speaker 1: and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of decrepitude, and yet
Speaker 1: his hard, deep lined, craggy features and his enormous limbs
Speaker 1: showed that he was possessed of unusual strength of body
Speaker 1: and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled hair, and outstanding,
Speaker 1: drooping eyebrows combined to give an air of dignity and
Speaker 1: power to his appearance. But his face was of an
Speaker 1: ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his
Speaker 1: nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue. It was
Speaker 1: clear to me at a glance that he was in
Speaker 1: the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. Pray, sit
Speaker 1: down on the sofa, said Holmes gently. You had my note, Yes,
Speaker 1: the lodge keeper brought it up. You said that you
Speaker 1: wished to see me here to avoid scandal. I thought
Speaker 1: people would talk if I went to the hall. And
Speaker 1: why did you wish to see me? He looked across
Speaker 1: at my companion with despair in his weary eyes, as
Speaker 1: though his question were already answered. Yes, said Holmes, answering
Speaker 1: the look rather than the words. It is so I
Speaker 1: know all about McCarthy. The old man sank his face
Speaker 1: in his hands. God help me, he cried. But I
Speaker 1: would not have let the young man come to harm.
Speaker 1: I'll give you my word that I would have spoken
Speaker 1: at if it went against him at the assizes. I
Speaker 1: am glad to hear you say so, said Holmes gravely.
Speaker 1: I would have spoken now had it not been for
Speaker 1: my dear girl. It would break her heart. It will
Speaker 1: break her heart when she hears that I am arrested.
Speaker 1: It may not come to that, said Holmes. What I
Speaker 1: am no official agent. I understand that it was your
Speaker 1: daughter who required my presence here, and I am acting
Speaker 1: in her interests. Young mc carthy must be got off. However,
Speaker 1: I am a dying man, said old Turner. I've had
Speaker 1: diabetes for years. My doctor says it is a question
Speaker 1: whether I shall live a month. Yet I would rather
Speaker 1: die under my own roof than in a jail. Holmes
Speaker 1: rose and sat down at the table with his pen
Speaker 1: in his hand and a bundle of paper before him.
Speaker 1: Just tell us the truth, he said. I shall jot
Speaker 1: down the facts, You will sign it, and Watson here
Speaker 1: can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at
Speaker 1: the last extremity to save young mc carthy. I promise
Speaker 1: you that I shall not use it unless it is
Speaker 1: absolutely needed. It's as well, said the old man. It's
Speaker 1: a question whether I shall live to the assizes, so
Speaker 1: it matters little to me, but I should wish to
Speaker 1: spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the
Speaker 1: thing clear to you. It has been a long time
Speaker 1: in the acting, but will not take me long to
Speaker 1: tell you didn't know this dead man McCarthy. He was
Speaker 1: a devil incarnate. I'll tell you that God keep you
Speaker 1: out of the clutches of such a man as he.
Speaker 1: His grip has been upon me these twenty years, and
Speaker 1: he has blasted my life. I'll tell you how I
Speaker 1: first came to be in his power. It was in
Speaker 1: the early sixties at the Diggings. I was a young
Speaker 1: chap then, hot blooded and reckless, ready to turn my
Speaker 1: hand to anything I got among bad companions, took to drink,
Speaker 1: had no luck with my claim, took to the bush,
Speaker 1: and in a word, became what you would call over
Speaker 1: here a highway robber. There were six of us, and
Speaker 1: we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up
Speaker 1: a station from time to time, or stopping the wagons
Speaker 1: on the road to the Diggings. Black Jack of Ballarat
Speaker 1: was the name I went under, and our party is
Speaker 1: still remembered in the colony. It was the Ballarat Gang.
Speaker 1: One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne,
Speaker 1: and we lay in wait for it and attacked it.
Speaker 1: There were six troopers and six of us, so it
Speaker 1: was a close thing, but we emptied four of their saddles.
Speaker 1: At the first volley, three of our boys were killed. However,
Speaker 1: before we got the swag, I put my pistol to
Speaker 1: the head of the wagon driver, who was this very
Speaker 1: man McCarthy. I wished to the Lord that I had
Speaker 1: shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw
Speaker 1: his wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though
Speaker 1: to remember every feature. We got away with the gold,
Speaker 1: became wealthy men, and made our way over to England
Speaker 1: without being suspected. There I parted from my old pals
Speaker 1: and determined to settle down to acquire down respectable life.
Speaker 1: I bought this estate, which chanced to be in the market,
Speaker 1: and I set myself to do a little good with
Speaker 1: my money to make up for the way in which
Speaker 1: I had earned it. I married, too, and though my
Speaker 1: wife died young, she left me my dear little Alice,
Speaker 1: even when she was just a babby. Her wee hand
Speaker 1: seemed to lead me down the right path as nothing
Speaker 1: else had ever done. In a word, I turned over
Speaker 1: a new leaf and did my best to make up
Speaker 1: for the past. All was going well when McCarthy laid
Speaker 1: his grip on me. I'd gone up to town about
Speaker 1: an investment, and I met him in Regent Street with
Speaker 1: hardly a coat to his back or a boot to
Speaker 1: his foot. Here we are, Jack, says he, touching me
Speaker 1: on the arm. Will be as good as a family
Speaker 1: to you. There's two of us, me and my son,
Speaker 1: and you can have the keeping of us if you don't.
Speaker 1: It's a fine law abiding country as England, and there's
Speaker 1: always a policeman within hale well down. They came to
Speaker 1: the West Country, there was no shaking them off, and
Speaker 1: there they have lived rent free on my best land
Speaker 1: ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace,
Speaker 1: no forgetfulness. Turn where I would, there was his cunning,
Speaker 1: grinning face at my elbow. It grew worse as Alice
Speaker 1: grew up, for he soon saw I was more afraid
Speaker 1: of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever
Speaker 1: he wanted he must have, and whatever it was I
Speaker 1: gave him with that question, land, money, houses, until at
Speaker 1: last he asked for a thing which I could not give.
Speaker 1: He asked for alice. His son, ye see, had grown
Speaker 1: up and sowered my girl, and as I was known
Speaker 1: to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke
Speaker 1: to him that his lad should step into the whole property.
Speaker 1: But there I was firm. I would not have his
Speaker 1: cursed stock mixed with mine. Not that I had any
Speaker 1: dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him,
Speaker 1: and that was enough. I stood firm. MacCarthy threatened, I
Speaker 1: braved him to do his worst. We were to meet
Speaker 1: at the pool midway between our houses to talk it over.
Speaker 1: When I went down there, I found him talking to
Speaker 1: his son. So I smoked a cigar and waded behind
Speaker 1: a tree till he should be alone. But as I
Speaker 1: listened to his talk, all that was black and bitter
Speaker 1: in me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his
Speaker 1: son to marry my daughter, with as little regard for
Speaker 1: what she might think as if she were a slut
Speaker 1: from off the streets. It drove me mad to think
Speaker 1: that I and all that I held most dear, should
Speaker 1: be in the power of such a man as this.
Speaker 1: Could I not snap the bond. I was already a
Speaker 1: dying and a desperate man. Though clear of mind and
Speaker 1: fairly strong of limb. I knew that my own fate
Speaker 1: was sealed. But my memory and my girl both could
Speaker 1: be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue.
Speaker 1: I did it, mister Holmes. I would do it again,
Speaker 1: deeply as I have sinned. I have led a life
Speaker 1: of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl
Speaker 1: should be entangled in the same meshes that held me
Speaker 1: was more than I could suffer. I struck him down
Speaker 1: with no more compunction than if he had been some
Speaker 1: foul and venomous beast. His cry brought back his son,
Speaker 1: but I had gained the cover of the wood, though
Speaker 1: I was forced to go back to fetch the cloak
Speaker 1: which I had dropped in my flight. Is the true story, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: of all that occurred. Well, it is not for me
Speaker 1: to judge, you, said Holmes, as the old man signed
Speaker 1: the statement which had been drawn out. I pray that
Speaker 1: we may never be exposed to such a temptation. I
Speaker 1: pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do
Speaker 1: in view of your health? Nothing? You are yourself aware
Speaker 1: that you will soon have to answer for your deed.
Speaker 1: At a higher court than the Assizes. I will keep
Speaker 1: your confession, and if Macarthy is condemned, I shall be
Speaker 1: forced to use it. If not, it shall never be
Speaker 1: seen by mortal eye, and your secret, whether you be
Speaker 1: alive or dead, shall be safe with us. Farewell, then,
Speaker 1: said the old man, solemnly. Your own death beds, when
Speaker 1: they come, will be the easier for the thought of
Speaker 1: the peace which you have given to mine. Tottering and
Speaker 1: shaking in all his giant frame, stumbled slowly from the room.
Speaker 1: God help us, said Holmes, after a long silence. Why
Speaker 1: does fate play such tricks with poor helpless worms. I
Speaker 1: never hear of such a case as this, that I
Speaker 1: do not think of Baxter's words and say, there but
Speaker 1: for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes. James McCarthy
Speaker 1: was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a
Speaker 1: number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes
Speaker 1: and submitted to the defending council. Old Turner lived for
Speaker 1: seven months after our interview, but he is now dead,
Speaker 1: and there is every prospect that the son and daughter
Speaker 1: may come to live happily together in ignorance of the
Speaker 1: black cloud which rests upon their past,